Armenia’s rescuers free 7 vehicles stranded by snow

Armenia’s Interior Ministry Rescue Service said its crews worked with the Police Patrol Service and road-maintenance workers to tow 6 articulated trucks and 1 passenger car free on the Gorayk–Zanger section. They also assisted 30 people.

The ministry’s emergency control center received an alert at 23:07 Yerevan time on 7 November that snow had stopped an articulated truck on the section, Civic.am said. A regional fire-and-rescue crew was sent to the scene. Gorayk is a village in Sisian Municipality in Armenia’s Syunik Province.

Responses across Armenia

In a later account, the Rescue Service said it responded to alerts received on 8 November about vehicles stranded on roads across Armenia’s regions. It said snow, ice, accumulated mud and difficult road conditions had prevented the vehicles from continuing. Crews towed and freed vehicles and moved people to safe areas.

Weather warning and forecast

Before the rescue, Hayhydromet’s November 5 warning had forecast snow in Syunik at elevations of 1,800 meters and above from the evening of 6 November through the daytime of 8 November. It also forecast snow across much of Armenia on the evening of 8 November and overnight into 9 November, with blizzards in mountainous regions, low visibility and ice on roads. Hayhydromet urged drivers to use winter tires.

The November 7 forecast anticipated snow and wet snow in mountain and foothill areas on 7–9 November. It expected intermittent precipitation nationwide through the night of 9 November, confined to Syunik during the following daytime, and dry weather nationwide on 10–12 November.